


Children

by I_llbedammned



Category: Black Widow (Comics), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Incredible Hulk (Comics)
Genre: Childhood Trauma, Dark Past, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-06-26
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:07:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24932749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/I_llbedammned/pseuds/I_llbedammned
Summary: Natasha Romanoff and Bruce Banner have a brief moment between missions to have a personal talk and they realize they are more alike than they thought.
Relationships: Bruce Banner/Natasha Romanov
Kudos: 16





	Children

A cradle. To anyone else it would be the simplest, most innocent symbol of childhood but to Natasha it was a bitter reminder of things that could not be. Most days it didn’t bother her, but after being around Clint’s happy life it stung just a little. She didn’t even want a kid –not really. The things that she would have to give-up, the years of shit stained diapers and gross grabbing hands, and the general feeling that someone would sneak cyanide into her kid’s lunch at school made that a realistic hellscape. 

But sometimes she wished that perhaps she had been born into a different sort of life that had made that a possibility. She wouldn’t be her, not really, but sometimes she got so tired of being her and a weapon. It was exhausting, but it was the only life she knew. These soft things, delicate things like the baby cradle in the room that she was currently standing around in were unpleasant reminders that not everybody had to live like she did and it brought up something inside of her that she did not like to bring into the public.  
Shit, she internally cursed turning around, drawing her pistol out of its holster. The barrel pointed right at a bewildered Bruce Banner, standing there with a turkey sandwich in a small plastic container and a bag of chips.

“Sorry, didn’t know anyone was in here.” Bruce began, quietly starting to back out of the room, averting his eyes.

“No, don’t go.” Her voice came out clipped, short as she forced away those open wound-type feelings along with her pistol, “Thought you were as assassin. I could use some company.”

Bruce paused, taking a seat on the wooden rocking chair, “You hang out in Clint’s child’s room often?” he asked wryly.

Natasha smirked, “I try not to make a habit of it. This was just the one place in the house that wasn’t filled with equipment.” Unsaid was the fact that constantly being surrounded by monitors and guns was making her fall into some of her old habits. Why bother making human connections when you knew that they could die at the end of day. When you knew that a moment of hesitation after they died could cost more than just their life. When you knew that you both were expendable.

The plastic container on Bruce’s lap popped open with a loud crackle. “Yeah, it’s a bit much. It reminds me too much of my time in the mountains of Pakistan.”

“Vacation?” Natasha tersely asked, intending for it to be friendly but it came out just a touch too hard.

A slight smile crossed Bruce’s face, making the lines on his face stand out, “I wish it was a vacation. I got wrapped up in a bit of a scuffle. The big guy found a base for some sort of mutant supremacists in the mountains and went to town. Ended up fighting in an unwinnable war for a few years before I got lost in the mountains. I had to run. Not like the government was going to just let a weapon like me go without a fight.”

“Been wrapped up into a few of those myself. It’s…not great.” Comfort always came oddly to Natasha, but she understood how he felt. You thought you were doing something great and it just got bigger and bigger ‘til it flew out of your control.

“Not great. Your talent for understatement is really profound.” A jagged laugh came out of Bruce Banner, “And I ran from that war only to end up wrapped up in this one.”

Dust particles floated in the sunlight over teddy bears on the ground and Natasha watched them for a little, “Seems like no matter where we turn, there’s always another war to fight.”

“Almost seems pointless.” Bruce spoke, his temper rising and Natasha’s gaze flew up to watch him in fear. She knew what would happen if he got too angry, “After all these years, we should have made more progress towards peace. I’m 46 and I’m still fighting the same shit battles I did when I was 20 but the names behind the people controlling it have just changed. But the end result is still the same. Soldiers like us fight, big men profit, and children-” Bruce interrupted himself, his anger getting the better of him. A khaki stain was over his skin and he withdrew, breathing hard and reigning that impulse to destroy everything in. Nat let the minutes pass without saying a word, half holding her breath in case she had to run. 

Bruce quietly added in, “Children die.”

“Can’t say I disagree” Natasha confessed, “It’s been this way longer than I can remember. It honestly makes me wonder if I ran from one cage to another.”

Bruce’s eyes softened, looking at her with sympathy, “I sometimes forget that you’ve been at this longer than anyone.”

Natasha began to pace, uncomfortable with people being sympathetic towards her. She wasn’t a puppy dog that had been kicked, she was a weapon. She sniped, “Yeah, well I can’t forget it. It’s the one thing that keeps me fighting, keeps me trying to be better. Because I know what happens when the children don’t die but instead get conscripted to join the war.” 

Bruce seemed unshaken by her jagged speech and continued to eat, “War is hell. I know it is a cliché, but it’s true. The only people that like it or those that haven’t fought in it.”

Natasha drummed her fingers on the edge of the cradle, “Ain’t that the truth.” She commented. “I’m going to get a sandwich. You made me hungry.”

And with that she left, trying to process a whole new wave of emotions that she just did not want to deal with today.


End file.
